Is Secret Wars Going to Reboot the MCU?
The Avengers may assemble once again to save the MCU. The evidence for this comes from the newly released book MCU: The Reign of Marvel Studios by Joanna Robinson, Dave Gonzales, and Gavin Edwards. While on the podcast The Watch, Robinson talked about her interview with Kevin Feige for the book and revealed this tidbit about the MCU’s future (via Screen Rant):
“We have a quote from Kevin Feige sort of implying that, like, Secret Wars will serve as a soft reboot in which they can prune everything… That’s not to use a Loki-ism. [They’ll] prune everything that’s not working and just keep what is [working], or bring back people you thought were gone forever.”
Most are taking this to mean that the main Avengers from the first three phases of the MCU (the ones people actually liked) are coming back for Secret Wars, which has long been rumored. That’s a safe bet, and after the failures of the last couple of phases, it was inevitable. But this isn’t simply a big reunion party for one movie; based on another quote, the classic heroes may be coming back for good, if with a slightly different look. Here’s a quote from the book, again courtesy of Screen Rant:
“As the MCU spilled over into streaming programs and the Multiverse Saga, Feige had to learn different lessons from the comics: how superheroes periodically needed to be rebooted, how to stop variants and spinoffs from spiraling out of control, how an annual mega-crossover event could unify a disparate line of characters.”
“Rebooted” is the term that’s grabbing everyone’s attention, combined with Robinson’s comment about “people you thought were gone forever” coming back. It sounds like the Marvel Cinematic Universe will bring back guys like Captain America, Iron Man, Black Widow, and Black Panther, with the “reboot” being that they’re played by new actors. The multiverse will likely be the way they accomplish this, with Secret Wars serving as the lightning rod that draws in alternate-universe versions of the Avengers. If it’s true, this may be the only way forward for the MCU (with the exception of focusing on the X-Men and Fantastic Four), although the way they got here is overly complicated and unnecessary. Years ago, Feige said that the characters would eventually be recast, likening it to a different artist coming aboard a comic book. That would have been the way to go, but instead, they got bogged down in the multiverse and their All New, All Different Marvel experiment that they thought would work better on the screen than it did on the page. If it happens, I hope it ends up being good, but I’ve lost way too much faith to be excited till I see some tangible results.
